| History of Lithuania |
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| Chronology |
 Lithuaniaportal |
The Centennial of the Restored State of Lithuania marks the 100th anniversary of the Act of Independence of Lithuania which was signed on 16 February 1918.
| History of Lithuania |
|---|
| |
| Chronology |
| Lithuaniaportal |
The Centennial of the Restored State of Lithuania marks the 100th anniversary of the Act of Independence of Lithuania which was signed on 16 February 1918.
Lithuania's statehood dates to the 13th-century Grand Duchy of Lithuania. On 6 July 1253, Mindaugas was crowned as the King of Lithuania. In 1385, Lithuania joined Poland in a union that grew into the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth by 1569. Between 1772 and 1795, most of Lithuania was annexed by the Russian Empire.
Towards the end of World War I, on 16 February 1918, twenty people signed the Act of Independence of Lithuania, which proclaimed the restoration of an Independent State of Lithuania, creating a modern state. During World War II, Lithuania was forcibly occupied and annexed by the Soviet Union in 1940, followed by Nazi Germany in 1941, and again by the Soviets in 1944 as one of its constituent republics. During the late 1980s and the dissolution of the Soviet Union, Lithuania fought to restore its independence which culminated in the Act of the Re-Establishment of the State of Lithuania signed on 11 March 1990. [1]
In order to have every Lithuanian citizen experience the significance of this jubilee, the Government of Lithuania has initiated a celebration of the centenary of the restoration of Lithuania. The intention of the celebration is to:
"Bring... together Lithuanian people and Lithuanians living abroad to celebrate the birthday of restored Lithuania, encouraging to be proud of their country, and becoming important and active participants in Lithuania’s life. [2]
To achieve this, the government has been planning to increase Lithuania's reputation abroad. [3] February 16 has been pronounced as the most important jubilee date, but the Centennial is intended to last all year.
The National Flag and Vytis have been chosen as symbols of the celebration of the centenary.
Three main focuses of activity have been identified by the government:
6 July 2017, the Statehood Day, marked the official start of the Centennial. On that day, the national anthem was sung at the same time at 100 Lithuania's hillforts and around the world. The main events of the celebration of the centennial are scheduled for 2018. The most important of them will be the commemoration of the 16 February. The largest event will be the 20th Song Festival "Vardan tos ...," to be held in Vilnius on 30 June – 6 July 2018. The name of the festival comes from Tautiška giesmė , the Lithuanian anthem.
A lot of attention will be given to the presentation of Lithuania and its cultural and scientific achievements abroad. [5] Many smaller initiatives have been already or will be implemented in the near future. The Lithuanian Council for Culture alone has received fifty applications for “The Centennial of the State of Lithuania” program. [6] Hundreds of initiatives have been supported by other cultural and scientific programs and foundations. [7] In 2018, tens of scientific conferences, exhibitions, symposiums, educational programs, concerts, and performances will take place. [8] [9]
The Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic, also known as Soviet Lithuania or simply Lithuania, was de facto one of the constituent republics of the Soviet Union between 1940–1941 and 1944–1990. After 1946, its territory and borders mirrored those of today's Republic of Lithuania, with the exception of minor adjustments to its border with Belarus.
The national flag of Lithuania consists of a horizontal tricolour of yellow, green, and red. It was adopted on 25 April 1918 during Lithuania's first period of independence from 1918 to 1940, which ceased with the occupation first by the Soviet Union, and then by Nazi Germany (1941–1944). During the post-World War II Soviet occupation, from 1945 until 1988, the Soviet Lithuanian flag consisted first of a generic red Soviet flag with the name of the republic, in 1953 that was changed to the red flag with white and green bands at the bottom.
"Tautiška giesmė" is the national anthem of Lithuania, also known by its opening words, "Lietuva, Tėvyne mūsų", and as "Lietuvos himnas". The music and lyrics were written in 1898 by Vincas Kudirka, when Lithuania was still part of the Russian Empire. The fifty-word poem was a condensation of Kudirka's conceptions of the Lithuanian state, the Lithuanian people, and their past. Shortly before his death in 1899, the anthem was performed for Lithuanians living in Saint Petersburg, Russia.
The Lithuanian Riflemen's Union, also referred to as Šauliai, is a paramilitary non-profit organization supported by the Government of Lithuania, active in three main areas: military training, sport, and culture, but this differs between peace and wartime.
The emblem of the Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic was adopted in 1940 by the government of the Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic. The emblem was designed by Vsevolodas Dobužinskis based on the State Emblem of the Soviet Union. The new coat of arms replaced the traditional coat of arms of Lithuania, known as Vytis, which was restored when Lithuania declared its independence in 1990.
The Act of the Re-Establishment of the State of Lithuania or Act of 11 March was an independence declaration by Lithuania adopted on 11 March 1990, signed by all members of the Supreme Council of the Republic of Lithuania led by Sąjūdis. The act emphasized restoration and legal continuity of the interwar-period Lithuania, which was occupied by the Soviet Union and annexed in June 1940. In March 1990, it was the first of the 15 Soviet republics to declare independence, with the rest following to continue for 21 months, concluding with Kazakhstan's independence in 1991. These events led to the dissolution of the Soviet Union in December 1991.
The Act of Independence of Lithuania or the Act of February 16th, also the Lithuanian Resolution on Independence, was signed by the Council of Lithuania on February 16, 1918, proclaiming the restoration of an independent State of Lithuania, governed by democratic principles, with Vilnius as its capital. The Act was signed by all twenty representatives of the Council, which was chaired by Jonas Basanavičius. The Act of February 16 was the result of a series of resolutions on the issue, including one issued by the Vilnius Conference and the Act of January 8. The path to the Act was long and complex because the German Empire exerted pressure on the Council to form an alliance. The Council had to carefully maneuver between the Germans, whose troops were present in Lithuania, and the demands of the Lithuanian people.
The 1926 Lithuanian coup d'état was a military coup d'état in Lithuania that replaced the democratically elected government with a nationalist regime led by Antanas Smetona. The coup took place on 17 December 1926 and was largely organized by the military; Smetona's role remains the subject of debate. The coup brought the Lithuanian Nationalist Union, the most conservative party at the time, to power. Previously it had been a fairly new and insignificant nationalistic party. By 1926, its membership reached about 2,000 and it had won only three seats in the parliamentary elections. The Lithuanian Christian Democratic Party, the largest party in the Seimas at the time, collaborated with the military and provided constitutional legitimacy to the coup, but accepted no major posts in the new government and withdrew in May 1927. After the military handed power over to the civilian government, it ceased playing a direct role in political life.
The Ministry of the Interior of the Republic of Lithuania is charged with the oversight of public safety, border protection, migration control, emergency response, public administration and governance, the civil service, and local and regional development initiatives. Its operations are authorized by the Constitution of the Republic of Lithuania, decrees issued by the President and Prime Minister, and laws passed by the Seimas (Parliament). The current head of the ministry is Agnė Bilotaitė.
Celebrations of the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Republic of China were held on 10 October 2011, on the 100th anniversary of the Xinhai Revolution. It was celebrated in both mainland China and Taiwan, ruled by the People's Republic of China (PRC) and the Republic of China (ROC) respectively, but the connotation and significance of the celebrations varied between the two.
The Lithuania–Russia border is an international border between the Republic of Lithuania and Kaliningrad Oblast, an exclave of the Russian Federation. It is an external border of the European Union. The 274.9 km (170.8 mi) long border passes through the Curonian Spit and Curonian Lagoon, and then follows along the Neman River, Šešupė, Širvinta, Liepona, and Lake Vištytis. The sea border is another 22.2 km (13.8 mi). There is a tripoint between Lithuania, Russia, and Poland with a stone monument at 54°21′48″N22°47′31″E.
The Lithuanian Song Festival is a massive traditional song and dance festival. Since regaining the Independence in 1990, the event has gained the status of the national celebration. The most recent event took place between 30 June and 6 July 2018. The 2018 edition of the Song Celebration was dedicated to the Centenary of the Restoration of the independent state of Lithuania and took place in Kaunas and Vilnius. The main event has been hosted in Vingis Park in Vilnius.
In Lithuania, the Independence Medal is a state medal of Lithuania, awarded for the contributions in the restoration of the independence of the state. The medal had two issues in 1928 and 2000. Both times it was issued to commemorate the 10th anniversary of Lithuania's independence.
A centennial, or centenary in British English, is a 100th anniversary or otherwise relates to a century, a period of an exact century.
The 100th Anniversary of the Estonian Republic is an official government program for the celebration of the Republic of Estonia's 100th anniversary. The official anniversary was marked on 24 February 2018, while related celebrations and events took place from April 2017 to February 2020.
The 100th Anniversary of the Latvian Republic also commercialized as Latvia 100 was a national event in Latvia celebrating the country's 100th anniversary since its 1918 establishment. The main celebrations were held on 18 November 2018, and other commemorative events are set to take place from 2017 to 2021. Outside from the official celebrations, 18 November is also a public holiday, being the Proclamation Day of the Republic of Latvia.
The day of restoration of Independence of Lithuania is a Lithuanian national holiday celebrated on 11 March in commemoration of the Act of the Re-Establishment of the State of Lithuania that the Constituent Assembly signed in 1990. It is one of the three principal national holidays in Lithuania, along with the Day of the Re-Establishment of the Statehood of Lithuania on 16 February and the Statehood Day on 6 July.
Barbora Burbaitė-Eidukevičienė (1867–1939) was a Lithuanian physician. Graduating from the University of Zurich in 1892, she became the first Lithuanian woman to obtain a university degree.
The Supreme Court of the Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic was the highest court in the Lithuanian SSR. It replaced the Supreme Tribunal of Lithuania in 1940, and was replaced by the Supreme Court of Lithuania in 1990. For most of the Soviet period, there were only two levels of courts in Lithuania – the People's Courts and the Supreme Court.
